The A426 road is a road in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

which runs from the city of Leicester to the market town of

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

via the towns of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby ...

and

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

History

Until the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

was completed in the 1960s this route formed the main route between Rugby and Leicester, now much quieter as all but local traffic uses the motorway. However, the local traffic has increased as Magna Park, a prominent East Midlands warehouse facility, has developed close to Lutterworth.

Broughton Astley Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish located in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley, about from the centre of Leiceste ...

, a couple of miles north-west of

Dunton Bassett Dunton Bassett is a small village in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It lies between Leicester and Lutterworth, and close to Broughton Astley, Ashby Magna & Leire. It had a population of 795 at the 2001 UK census, falli ...

and other local villages can often become congested with goods vehicles en route between Magna Park, the

and the

M6 Motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

. At rush hours the road can become gridlocked and reduced to less than 40 mph, particularly as agricultural traffic frequently uses the stretch. For this reason, journeys between Blaby and Rugby during rush hour can take much longer than anticipated. The A426 crosses the route of the former A45 in

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...

, this would have formed one of the main routes between the Midlands and South East. Dunchurch is now bypassed to the South by the

M45 motorway The M45 is a motorway in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, England and is long. It runs between junction 17 of the M1 motorway south east of Rugby and a junction with the A45 road southwest of Rugby. It has one of the lowest traffic volumes ...

, and the A426 no longer meets the A45

Route

The A426 starts on the Leicester Inner Ring Road, heading South through the suburbs of the city, crossing the Outer Ring Road and bypassing the village of Blaby. It crosses over the M1 which it runs parallel to for the next or so. The road becomes rural in nature until entering the small town of

and crossing the A4303 Southern Bypass. A further south and it crosses the A5

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

at a roundabout and eventually the M6 junction 1. It starts a descent into

as a dual carriageway with 5 local access roundabouts. Approaching the Town Centre the road becomes single carriageway again and crosses under the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. It passes the main Town Centre to the West and heads Southwards out of the town towards

after which it passes over the M45 and once again becomes a rural road for its final length to terminate on the

A423 The A423 road is a primary A road in England in two sections. The main section leads from central Banbury to the A45 near Coventry. Route It starts in Banbury town centre as Southam Road and goes through the Southam Road Industrial Estat ...

bypass.

Former routes

The A426, compared to other routes is a relatively untouched road, with only a single bypass: * The road used to travel through the village of Blaby, now bypassed

Bus corridor

A controversial decision to allow a bus corridor to be constructed on the A426 from Blaby into Leicester was given the go ahead despite heavy local opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0426 Roads in England Transport in Leicestershire Transport in Leicester Roads in Warwickshire